When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.

A motorcyclist died after he lost control coming off a motorway roundabout in Eastham and collided with a van, an inquest heard.

Retired builder Michael Lonergan was riding alongside friend William Wynne when he clipped a traffic island as he joined the A41 New Chester Road towards Birkenhead at around 7.10pm on June 16.

Liverpool coroner’s court heard witnesses described how the 57-year-old’s bike had “slipped” or “not straightened up again” after coming off the roundabout at junction five of the M53 from Ellesmere Port.

Collision investigator Simon Richards said the bike, which was in the outside lane, then clipped the grassy island in the centre of the carriageway and crossed into the path of a TNT van travelling in the opposite direction.

Mr Richards said the bike had hit the front corner of the van, while Mr Lonergan had gone under the driver’s side rear wheel.

The Ellesmere Port dad suffered multiple injuries and was treated at the scene, before being taken to Arrowe Park Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The inquest heard the van driver had only just begun moving off after coming to a halt due to the traffic a short time earlier, with witnesses saying there was nothing he could have done to avoid the collision.

Mr Lonergan was riding just behind his friend Mr Wynne when he lost control but there was nothing from eyewitness accounts to suggest their bikes had made contact.

Flowers tied to a lamp post in tribute

Mr Richards also read evidence from witness Kathryn Williams, who was driving behind the van.

She said the biker had appeared to “glance down or behind as if to check something” and then, as he looked back ahead, lost control of his motorcycle.

Mr Lonergan’s family, including his wife, son and daughter, attended the hearing, and they asked whether it may have been to do with a chain he had just had fitted to the bike.

But the collision investigator said he had checked the chain at the scene and the bike had undergone further tests, and there was no indication of any mechanical issues.

He said: “There was nothing to suggest the chain was either loose or contributed to what happened.”

Post mortem tests showed Mr Lonergan had a blood alcohol level of 116mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood – around one-and-a-half times the legal limit.The court heard pathologist Steven Mills had stated that would be associated with a mild to moderate level of inebriation.

But assistant coroner David Lewis said the extent that was relevant was still unclear, as there was nothing particularly remarkable about the way he was driving or anything to suggest his speed was inappropriate.

Mr Lewis said Mr Lonergan had lost control of the bike “for reasons which I don’t think we will ever quite know” to some extent, before clipping the island and coming into contact with the van.

He concluded the motorcyclist had died from multiple injuries as a result of a road traffic collision.